Companionship in Matera
Cave dwellings carved into the tufa ravine of the Gravina river have been continuously inhabited here for roughly 9,000 years, making Matera's Sassi districts among the longest-occupied human settlements on Earth. UNESCO inscribed the Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches in 1993, recognising both the ancient cave architecture and the 150-plus rock-hewn churches scattered across the surrounding plateau. In 2019, Matera served as European Capital of Culture, an event that accelerated the conversion of former cave homes into boutique hotels, restaurants, and gallery spaces.
About 60,403 residents live in Matera, the capital of Basilicata's second province. The city divides into two main Sassi quarters, the Sasso Barisano (facing northwest) and the Sasso Caveoso (facing south), separated by the rocky spur of the Civita where the Romanesque cathedral stands. Carlo Levi's 1945 memoir Cristo si e fermato a Eboli brought international attention to the poverty of Basilicata, and by the 1950s the Italian government forcibly relocated roughly 15,000 residents from the Sassi into modern housing, declaring the caves a "national disgrace." Rehabilitation began in the 1980s.
Hotels in the restored Sassi and in the modern Piano district accommodate visitors. Providers active in Matera are listed in our directory with reviewed profiles. Escortservice.com does not provide, arrange, or mediate services. All contact occurs directly between user and provider, and visitors must be 18 or older.
Matera's plateau location, 401 metres above sea level, gives it a semi-arid landscape that has attracted filmmakers seeking biblical or ancient settings. Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of the Christ here in 2003, and the 2021 James Bond film No Time to Die used the Sassi and the surrounding gravina for its pre-title sequence. Bread production, centred on the Pane di Matera IGP (a large, crusty loaf made with local durum wheat and baked in wood-fired ovens), remains an important part of the local economy alongside tourism.
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Cave dwellings carved into the tufa ravine of the Gravina river have been continuously inhabited here for roughly 9,000 years, making Matera's Sassi districts among the longest-occupied human settlements on Earth. UNESCO inscribed the Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches in 1993, recognising both the ancient cave architecture and the 150-plus rock-hewn churches scattered across the surrounding plateau. In 2019, Matera served as European Capital of Culture, an event that accelerated the conversion of former cave homes into boutique hotels, restaurants, and gallery spaces.
About 60,403 residents live in Matera, the capital of Basilicata's second province. The city divides into two main Sassi quarters, the Sasso Barisano (facing northwest) and the Sasso Caveoso (facing south), separated by the rocky spur of the Civita where the Romanesque cathedral stands. Carlo Levi's 1945 memoir Cristo si e fermato a Eboli brought international attention to the poverty of Basilicata, and by the 1950s the Italian government forcibly relocated roughly 15,000 residents from the Sassi into modern housing, declaring the caves a "national disgrace." Rehabilitation began in the 1980s.
Hotels in the restored Sassi and in the modern Piano district accommodate visitors. Providers active in Matera are listed in our directory with reviewed profiles. Escortservice.com does not provide, arrange, or mediate services. All contact occurs directly between user and provider, and visitors must be 18 or older.
Matera's plateau location, 401 metres above sea level, gives it a semi-arid landscape that has attracted filmmakers seeking biblical or ancient settings. Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of the Christ here in 2003, and the 2021 James Bond film No Time to Die used the Sassi and the surrounding gravina for its pre-title sequence. Bread production, centred on the Pane di Matera IGP (a large, crusty loaf made with local durum wheat and baked in wood-fired ovens), remains an important part of the local economy alongside tourism.
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